This invention relates in general to vehicular body and frame assemblies and in particular to a method for joining together vehicle components, especially those manufactured from dissimilar materials, to form such a vehicle body and frame assembly.
Many land vehicles in common use, such as automobiles, vans, and trucks, include a body and frame assembly which is supported upon a plurality of ground-engaging wheels by a resilient suspension system. The structures of known body and frame assemblies can be divided into two general categories, namely, separate and unitized. In a typical separate body and frame assembly, the structural components of the body portion and the frame portion are separate and independent from one another. When assembled, the frame portion of the assembly is resiliently supported upon the vehicle wheels by the suspension system and serves as a platform upon which the body portion of the assembly and other components of the vehicle can be mounted. Separate body and frame assemblies of this general type are found in most older vehicles, but remain in common use today for many relatively large or specialized use modern vehicles, such as large vans, sport utility vehicles, and trucks. In a typical unitized body and frame assembly, the structural components of the body portion and the frame portion are combined into an integral unit which is resiliently supported upon the vehicle wheels by the suspension system. Unitized body and frame assemblies of this general type are found in many relatively small modern vehicles, such as automobiles and minivans.
Each of these body and frame assemblies is composed of a plurality of individual vehicle frame components that are secured together. In the past, virtually all of these vehicle frame components have been manufactured from a metallic material. Steel has traditionally been the preferred material for manufacturing all of such vehicle frame components because of its relatively high strength, relatively low cost, and ease of manufacture. Vehicle frame components manufactured from metallic materials have been secured together by conventional welding techniques. More recently, however, in an effort to reduce the weight of the vehicle frame assembly, it has been found desirable to use alternative materials to form some or all of the vehicle frame components. Thus, in some instances, it may be desirable to form some or all of the vehicle frame components from materials which cannot be easily secured together, or in some cases cannot be secured together at all by conventional welding techniques. For example, conventional welding techniques cannot be used to secure a metallic vehicle frame component to a non-metallic vehicle frame component. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a method for joining vehicle components together to form a vehicle body and frame assembly, where the components are formed from alternative materials, and particularly those components manufactured from dissimilar materials, such as metallic and non-metallic materials.